Russia will increase forces in west to counter NATO presence: Shoigu
Global News
In opening remarks to the Collegium of the Defence Ministry, Shoigu said NATO-member Poland had already announced plans to strengthen its military.
Russia will build up forces at its western borders following Finland’s accession to the U.S.-led NATO alliance, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told the governing board of the ministry on Wednesday.
In opening remarks to the Collegium of the Defence Ministry, Shoigu said NATO-member Poland had already announced plans to strengthen its military, and that he expected significant NATO forces and weaponry to be deployed in Finland, whose inclusion has almost doubled the length of Russia’s land border with NATO.
“The collective West is waging a proxy war against Russia,” he said, according to his ministry, pointing to its “unprecedented support” for Ukraine in supplying tens of billions of dollars’ worth of weaponry to help Kyiv repel Russian forces.
Shoigu called the entry of Finland into NATO and the future entry of Sweden “a serious destabilizing factor.” The two Nordic states abandoned generations of neutrality that had held throughout the Cold War to seek NATO membership following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine early last year.
“On Finnish territory, it is likely that additional military contingents and strike weapons of NATO will be deployed, capable of hitting critical targets in the northwest of Russia at a considerable depth,” Shoigu said.
“Today, at the meeting of the Board, we will consider issues related to the creation of the Leningrad and Moscow military districts with the simultaneous strengthening of groupings of troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on our western borders.”
He said Poland had announced its intention to build the most powerful army on the continent, and had become “the main instrument of the anti-Russian policy of the United States of America.”
Shoigu said the number of NATO military units from outside the region stationed in eastern Europe had increased by two-and- a-half times since February last year and that they were now 30,000-strong in total.
Canada produced on average 5.3 million barrels per day of crude oil in 2025, according to the Canada Energy Regulator, making the upcoming production jump a 2.6 per cent increase.
Iran's foreign minister said the U.S. attacked Kharg and Abu Musa islands from locations in the United Arab Emirates, a claim the UAE rejected.
Citing "a more contested environment", British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Irish counterpart Micheal Martin said the exercises would begin in September.
Only one in four (23 per cent) Canadians approve while, 16 per cent are unsure either way. Forty-two per cent were found to strongly disapprove.
Countries around the world are grappling with skyrocketing costs for key commodities like oil and fertilizer as the war with Iran continues to upend global trade.
The U.S. Central Command said the crash followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace,” and that the other plane landed safely.
Water treatment centres in the Persian Gulf region are under threat amid the Iran war, with desalination plants in areas like Bahrain taking damage from strikes.
John Gradek said that the price of jet fuel is up about 30 per cent and the cost of fuel represents about 30 per cent of an airline's operating costs.
Iran's unrelenting attacks on shipping traffic and energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf pushed oil back above $100 a barrel on Thursday.
Concerns were raised in a document sent to British Prime Minster Keir Starmer in December 2024 when he was considering appointing Peter Mandelson.
Canada and a group of dozens of other countries have agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves as the Iran war threatens the global supply.
Iran's military command said on Wednesday the world should be prepared for oil to hit US$200 a barrel, as three more ships came under attack in the blockaded Gulf.
Iran launched new attacks against Israel and Gulf Arab countries, while Israel carried out airstrikes on Iran and Lebanon, where it is battling Hezbollah militants.